Sirius Satellite Radio
Inc Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said on Wednesday he
hoped U.S. regulators would rule by the end of March on the
proposed merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio

PHILADELPHIA, March 12 (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio
Inc Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said on Wednesday he
hoped U.S. regulators would rule by the end of March on the
proposed merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio Inc.

Speaking at the Bear Stearns 21st Annual Media Conference,
Karmazin said he "took heart" about recent comments by U.S.
Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, who
indicated that his agency aimed to rule on the deal by the end
of March.

That time frame could change, Karmazin cautioned, since
regulatory approval of the proposed $4.2 billion merger of the
two satellite radio companies had taken longer than initially
expected. The companies had hoped regulators would sign off on
the deal by the end of 2007.

"The fact that it has lingered this long, it has been
interpreted ... as good news," Karmazin said.

"Clearly if there was a big problem with the merger, it
wouldn't take the (regulators) this long to figure it out.
Either you believe we compete with a whole bunch of audio
choices or you think there's a distinct market called satellite
radio," he said.

The Department of Justice appeared to have all of the
information it needed on the deal, but the companies were
having active discussions with the FCC, he said. Talks with the
FCC had recently accelerated, Karmazin said.

Karmazin said the companies needed to convince regulators
that the deal would be in the public interest and not harm
competition, as some critics have claimed.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc Chairman Gary Parsons
echoed Karmazin's comments on Wednesday and said he was
confident that the regulatory review was moving forward "in a
timely manner."

"We believe that DOJ has the information and feel the FCC
has the necessary information to complete their decision-making
process and have confidence they will move forward and will
complete that in a timely manner," Parsons said at the
conference.

Unless the DOJ sued to stop the proposed merger, the deal
could close immediately after the FCC ruled, Karmazin said.